Caesura
by Memoriam
Summary: Pre-game. When does a boy become a man? What does it cost him? Would-be SOLDIERs always find out the hard way.


The butt of the rifle smashed into the young cadet's mouth, mashing his lips against his teeth in a sudden flood of crimson. A guttural, choked sound escaped him as he sank to his knees, cluthing at his ruined mouth. Blood rapidly stained the front of his dark blue uniform a muddy purple. Crisp green eyes regarded him dispassionately.

The cadet's partner had gone white with shock, anger and disgust written plainly on his features. "What the _hell _is your problem?" he cried, voice cracking, as he whirled on the instructor. "That was totally uncalled f--" The rest of his complaint emerged as a whoosh of air when the rifle was rapidly reversed and slammed into his belly. The cadet staggered, holding his abdomen protectively; a sharp blow to the back of the neck quickly felled him.

The instructor turned to face the rest of the squadron, planting the rifle in front of him and settling into a perfect formal rest pose. Relaxing enough to push a strand of silver hair out of his eyes, he surveyed the twin ranks of would be SOLDIERs arrayed before him, an almost pleasant expression on his face. "I am Sephiroth, your sensei. This is your final command and combat curriculum," he announced, his soft, raspy voice managing to carry effortlessly across the dusty training yard. "We have just learned that inattention leads to disastrous consequences." He glanced at the cadets he had laid low, and nudged the prone form of the second with his boot. "As do insolence. And insubordination." He returned his attention to the rest of the squadron. "Does anyone have any questions?"

Zack Buster's palms grew slick with sweat as the silence stretched on, punctuated only by the grunts and snuffles of the first injured cadet. He mustn't break bearing, mustn't show fear or nervousness; the new commander was using scare tactics, that was all; intimidating the cadets into toeing the line so he'd be able to teach them in peace. Still, no need to get himself singled out like those two. He desperately wanted to glance around, to see how his squadmates were taking this little display; but he didn't dare risk the praeceptor spotting him do it.

"Oh, good," Sephiroth said, after no one had spoken for a few moments. "I dislike questions." His eyes flicked over the line of cadets, and he gestured sharply to two at the far end of the line from Zack. "Take these to the medical wing. I expect they will need time to absorb this lesson."

"Sir, yes sir!" The two clicked their heels and saluted, then quickly scurried over to collect their fallen comrades. Quickly scooping the injured cadets up and over their shoulders, they set off at a rapid jog.

Zack relaxed fractionally.  Now that he'd made his point, the commander would likely continue on with the day's lesson—hopefully one that didn't require any physical demonstrations.  Taking a deep breath, he began to calm his thoughts, schooling himself into the attentive state he employed while in class—until he saw something glimmering wetly in the dirt.  _Oh, no._

"Now, as we have just seen, guns provide a false sense of security.  A SOLDIER First Class cannot afford this—"

_He'll need those!  And the brass won't approve of this guy damaging the cadets.  _He licked his lips.

"—majority of your martial studies will involve close-combat weapons—"

"Sir!"

The instructor seemed to flow across the intervening distance, suddenly glaring down at Zack from inches away.  "Yes"--he glanced down at Zack's nameplate—"Buster?  Is there something you're curious about?"

"Sir, no sir!  Commander Sephiroth, it's Cadet Feral's teeth; you knocked them out, sir!  The hospitallers will need to reattach them, sir!"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed; then, abruptly, he turned away.  "Take them along.  Now," he continued, raising his voice, "does anyone else have any input?  May I impose on you and continue the lesson?"

Zack darted forward, snatched the bloody teeth from the dirt, and double-timed away while he had the chance.

He made good time, catching up to the other cadets as they entered the long entry hall of the hospital wing.  Feral had regained his feet and was making his way slowly down the hall, leaning on his rescuer for support.  "Hey, fella," Zack called, grinning encouragingly as he drew alongside the group.  "Cheer up; look what I brought you."  He proffered the teeth.

Feral looked down at Zack's outstretched hand and squeezed his eyes shut, looking nauseated.  "Ghee, fanksh," he gurgled, stumbling.  The cadet supporting him grabbed his elbow to steady him.  Zack looked up and realized it was Cloud; Diamond carried Feral's unconscious defenders.  The three uninjured cadets exchanged sheepish smiles.

"Alright, what happened here?" called the duty nurse when she caught sight of the battered group.  Hurrying around the desk, she shook her head at Feral and peered closely at the still form slung over Diamond's shoulders.  "Was there a fight?"

"No, nurse," Zack said.  "Our sensei was making sure we understood his lesson."  He held the teeth out to her.  "These are Cadet Feral's."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but took them from him.  She grabbed Feral's arm and eased him toward her with a firm gentleness.  "Bring him back here," she said to Diamond.  "You two wait.  I'll be back with forms for your commander."  She turned and led Feral towards the emergency room, Diamond and his burden trailing after them.

When they were alone in the hall, Cloud sighed and ran a hand through his closed-cropped hair.  "Wow.  Just wow."

Zack leaned back against the wall, folding his arms and pursing his lips.  "Yeah, that was pretty harsh.  But it really gets the message across, you know?  _Always_ be ready to fight."

"Man, that's crazy!" Cloud snapped.  "So's this Sephiroth, wherever they dug him up.  Like somebody's going to attack the SOLDIER academy?"

Zack shrugged.  "Well, like I said, it was harsh.  And he's probably here from Wutai; the final exercise is always led by somebody with front-line experience."

"I don't care where he's from, he is all kinds of creepy."  Cloud hugged himself, shivering.  "Have you seen those _eyes, _the way he looks at you?  It's like he's wondering how you'll taste."

"I dunno about that."  Zack rubbed his chin, scratching at the thick black stubble that was already growing in.  "But I think you're getting way too worked up over this.  Yeah, he's weird, but do you think they'd waste a good SOLDIER on training us when there's a war on?  He probably bursts into tears whenever there's a loud noise or something."  He leaned over and punched Cloud lightly on the shoulder.  "And he's got Mako eyes, just like the rest of us."

"Yeah, I guess," Cloud muttered, shaking his head.  "I dunno, I just have a really bad feeling about this.  I guess it's because we're so close to the end, you know?  Eight more weeks, after all of this, and I'm done.  And now this lunatic shows up to screw me up…"

Zack snorted.  "If a dork like you hasn't managed to screw up yet, I doubt a nutball teacher is gonna be able to do it for you."

"Oh, that's it, Buster," Cloud growled playfully, putting up his fists.  "You've had it now.  I'm gonna—"

"—provide me with more masculine idiocy to patch up?" the desk nurse interrupted, sweeping through the curtain that hid the emergency room's entrance.  Zack and Cloud both froze, embarrassed; she regarded them laconically.  "Oh, don't let me stop you," she said.  "If you're going to bear each other, do it here and save us the effort of carrying you."

"No, ma'am," Zack said, ducking his head. 

"Indeed."  She gave the pair a critical look, then handed Zack the file she had tucked under her arm with a flourish.  "Cadet Diamond will be helping me here for a little bit longer.  These are for your sensei—and they're timestamped, mind, so no dawdling giving them to him."

"Yes ma'am!" the two cadets chorused, then turned to begin their trot back to the practice yard.

_Author's Note: In progress.  As far as I am able to determine, canonically Zack has no last name; I have seen Buster used in several fics, so I am continuing the tradition here.  If I'm incorrect in that, please let me know.  -M_


End file.
